Piano action



March 12, 1940. A. F. DINSMORE PIANO ACTION Filed Feb. 24, 1938 8 n o Q MN QM. a

INVENTOR. 631. 72

2/ 4' 7 *7 ATTORAEYSY Patented Mar. 12, 1940 UNiTED fi'l'dQTES nane PIANO ACTION Alton F. Dinsmore, Fairport, N. Y., assignor to Aeolian American Corporation, East Rochester, N. 1 a corporation of New York Application February 24, 1938, Serial No. 192,284

Claims.

This invention relates to piano actions, and pertains more particularly to actions adapted for." use in small upright pianos.

It an object of invention to provide an 5 action in which the parts are so arranged as to be accon nodated within a case which is relatively lov in height and relatively shallow in depth,

It is a iurt or object of the invention to provide an action of this type adapted for small pianos without sacrificing of the capabilities of the usual upright piano action.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinaf er.

A preferred embodiment of the invention selected for purposes of illustration is shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure l is a vertical section through the action,

arts of the piano except those essential to the action being eliminated.

no Figure is a similar view of modified form the invention, the conventional parts of the hammer action and key being omitted.

Referring to the drawing, the action is illustrated in its normal relation to a string 1, plate 22 and sounding board 3 oi the piano. A kcybed is also shown, supporting keys The hammer action illustrated is of standard construction for upright pianos and is supported. on the usual hammer rail It comprises the usual parts including the hammer damper 8, damper lever back check 13, jack ll, bridle strap 12 and wippen l 3. The usual spring rail Hi and hammer rest rail 1 5 are also provided.

Mounted below the wippens i3 is a rail ll.-

having secured thereto upper and lower flanges H and l8 on which are pivotally mounted upper and lower arms l9 and 29. Pivotally connected. to the ends of the arms IE! and it is a vertical member 2 l, the upper end of which engages the under side of the wippen [3. The member 2i is provided with a projecting portion for connection with one end of a lifter wire 23, the other end of which extends through an aperture in the rear end of the key 5. If desired, the upper end of the wire 23 may be threaded to receive an adjusting nut 24.

As will be apparent, when the pianist depresses the front end of the key in the usual manner, the rear end rises, causing the wire iii to lift 5 arms 19 and 2d and the member ii to swing the wippen about its pivot to operate the hammer, It will be observed that while the end of the member 2| which engages the wippen moves in an arc having a radius equal to the distance be- 55 tween the pivot points of arm 19, the center of said are lies above the fixed pivot point of arm It at a point close to the pivot of the wippe Consequently the said arc nearly coincides. with the arc of the wippen, and since under these conditions there is only slight relative movement 5 between the upper of the member and the wippen, there is very little friction therebetween.

Another advantage of this construction is that since the parts it, ill? and El all located beneath the wippen, the case can be made very shall- 10 low in depth, enhancing the and graceful appearance of the piano.

A modified form of the invention is illustrated in Figure 2. In this form, a single arm 25 is pivotally mounted on a flange 2&3 and the lifter 15 wire 23 is connected directly to the arm. Pivotally mounted in a slot 2'? in the arm 25 is a vertical member 28 the upper end of which engages the under side of the wippen l3. Said vertical member is provided with an extension 29 0 W]. ..ch is guided in an aperture of rail 3i.

It will be understood that the invention may be variously modified and embodied within the scope of the subjoined claims.

I claim as my invention: 25

1. In an upright piano action including a hamner, wippen and key, in combination, an pivoted at a fixed point below the pivot of said wippen and extending forwardly beneath said Wip- 30 pen with the movable end of said arm below the movable end of said wippen, a vertical member pivoted to said arm and extending upwardly from arm to contact said wippen, said member and wippen being located below said key, means to guide said vertical member to hold it in 35 vertical position, and means connected to said key and depending therefrom to operate said arm.

2. In an upright piano action including a hammer, wippen and key, in combination, an arm pivoted at a fixed point below the pivot of said wippen and extending forwardly beneath said wippen with the movable end of said arm below the movable end of said wippen, a member pivotally connected to said arm extending upwardly therefrom to contact said wippen, said arm, member and wippen being located below said key, and means connected to said key and depending therefrom to operate said arm.

3. In an upright piano action including a hammer, wippen and key, in combination, an arm pivoted at a fixed point below the pivot of said wippen and extending forwardly beneath said wippen with the movable end of said arm below the movable end of said wippen, a member pivotally connected to said arm extending upwardly therefrom to contact said wippen, said arm, member and wippen being located below said key, and a lifting wire depending from said key and connecting said key and said member to transmit motion of said key to said member and said wippen.

4. In an upright piano action including a hammer, wippen and key, in combination, a pair of pivoted arms arranged one above the other and extending substantially parallel to said Wippen, a vertical member pivoted to said horizontal arms and contacting said wippen, said arm, member and wippen being located below said key, and

means connected to said key and depending therefrom to lift said horizontal arms and vertical member to thereby operate said wippen.

5. In an upright piano action including a hammer, wippen and key, in combination, a pair of pivoted arms arranged one above the other and extending substantially parallel to said wippen, a vertical member pivoted to said horizontal arms and contacting said wippen, said arm, member and wippen being located below said key, and a lifting wire depending from said key and connected to said vertical member to transmit motion of said key to said vertical member and said wippen.

ALTON F. DINSMORE. 

